The Flagship Turn-Based Strategy Game Returns Become Ruler of the World by establishing and leading a civilization from the dawn of man into the space age: Wage war, conduct diplomacy, discover new technologies, go head-to-head with some of history’s greatest leaders and build the most powerful empi

You would think 42 AI civilizations fighting for world domination would be hard to ignore, and yet it's been going on for almost a week and I'm only just now posting about it. Fortunately for all humankind, those AI nations are trapped inside the game Civilization V.

The game is brought to us courtesy of Reddit's r/Civ community—specifically the user "TPangolin", who has organised what they're calling the Battle Royale. An excerpt:

"Speaking of failed states, the Polish war machine looks to be more than happy to grind what is left of the Nazis into the ground whenever possible. Hence why they've focused such a large force to force Neuss into an Anschluss with the greater Polish Empire."

The battle is being catalogued via photo diary. Currently there are five parts, taking us through to turn 142. You can find the first part here, and follow the rest over at the Battle Royale's official event thread. Alternatively, you can follow along via TPangolin's Twitch channel. If you'd like to see the list of mods being used, you'll find a Steam Workshop collection right here.

PC Gamer

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Blank menu, Mac OS X

I've installed Civ V and try to play it, but find the menus have no visible text and graphics appear quite strange (cursor leaves a visible trail on screen, pop up about Steam vibrates in lower right corner of screen). After searching online and contactin...

That's free to play, not free-to-play—an important distinction. Steam is again playing host to more (temporarily) free goodies, with a midweek trial of Civilization 5. The offer, which lets you play the full game until Thursday, 10am PDT, will give everyone a chance to experience the unstoppable wrath of Gandhi.

This, of course, is designed to prepare people for the upcoming Civilization: Beyond Earth, which has begun pre-loading ahead of this Friday's release. That game bears many similarities to Civ 5, only it's on an alien planet in the future. It is not, for instance, a game in which Genghis Khan can negotiate a beneficial spice deal with Bismarck.

Unfortunately, the free trial doesn't include the excellent expansions. Nevertheless, it's worth an investigation if, somehow, you've managed to hold off this long.

PC Gamer

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Sid Meier talks strategy, game design and Civ

8 okt 2014

Developers interviewing developers? This will not stand*! Actually this chat between Sid Meier and XCOM: Enemy Unknown designer Jake Solomon is funny and interesting, and a rare chance to see Sid Meier in the wild.

Solomon initially tries to establish whether or not Meier is a Canadian spy, and moves on to quiz the Yoda of strategy design on his origins and inspirations. It's particularly charming to hear about the humble origins of Microprose. This anecdote reveals how much the games industry has exploded since the early days of the medium, though tools like Game Maker and Unity have kept this spirit alive.

"When people ask me 'how do you become a game designer?' well you just sit down and type a game into your computer and you're a game designer. That's really the way it was back then. I did all the art, the sound, the programming, printed the manuals on my printer and put them in a baggy, and sent Bill off to sell them... we did games in about two months back in those days, maybe three if it's, like, in depth."

The video was recorded at Firaxicon, a convention for fans of Firaxis' long line of strategy games.

*When devs interview devs the results are often interesting. Check out the
Tone Control podcast for more of that sort of thing.

Civilization 5's fast-coming Brave New World expansion focuses heavily on the late-game, according to the creators. A new launch trailer highlights that by showcasing several of the world's more recent events, like the advent of movies, tanks, airplanes, and rocket ships.

In fact, it gives such a rousing summary of our greatest accomplishments over the last century or so that it's easy to momentarily forget it's advertising a game expansion pack. That's just the kind of opportunity you have when your game is all about human achievement. Check it out below.

Civilization 5's fast-coming Brave New World expansion focuses heavily on the late-game, according to the creators. A new launch trailer highlights that by showcasing several of the world's more recent events, like the advent of movies, tanks, airplanes, and rocket ships.

In fact, it gives such a rousing summary of our greatest accomplishments over the last century or so that it's easy to momentarily forget it's advertising a game expansion pack. That's just the kind of opportunity you have when your game is all about human achievement. Check it out below.